Gulf Coast JFCS helps the most vulnerable individuals throughout our community, from babies to seniors, find safety, comfort, and a path toward a fulfilling life. To help as many people as comprehensively as possible through complex life challenges, Gulf Coast JFCS programs span a broad human service spectrum reaching more than 30,000 people annually throughout Tampa Bay and beyond. The outcome – lives uplifted!
Beginning with one social worker and a secretary in a small office 50 years ago, Gulf Coast JFCS now employs over 600 employees and serves nearly 30,000 people across Greater Tampa Bay and beyond.
Our seven program pillars allow us to reach the community’s most vulnerable people find safety, comfort, and a path toward a fulfilling life.
Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services, Inc. (Gulf Coast JFCS) is a non-sectarian, community-based, Florida not-for-profit that has been serving Floridians since 1960 when the agency began providing counseling and family support services to the Jewish community in Pinellas County. On July 2, 1974, Gulf Coast JFCS was incorporated and began to expand and diversify its array of services offered to the community-at-large through public funding.
Our vast array of programs serves diverse populations of all ages, faiths, cultures, and lifestyles, including individuals with behavioral health challenges with the tools necessary to function well in society; unemployed and under-employed individuals with the skills to find jobs, support their families and be better parents; refugees and survivors of torture with essential services that support them to adapt to life in America successfully; elderly and disabled citizens with support services enabling them to live independently, safely and with dignity; Jewish families with services that connect them to the Jewish community and improve their lives; and children in need with intensive support to ensure stability, safety and well-being. Each individualized service is based on research, evidence-based best practices, and trauma-informed care principles to positively impact the social determinants of health in the communities served.
Dr. Sandra Braham
President and CEO
Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services
Dr. Sandra Braham is President and CEO of Gulf Coast JFCS, a $60 million human social services agency with more than 650 employees. Under her transformational leadership, the company has added $28 million in revenue. Gulf Coast JFCS operationalizes over 50 programs covering areas such as child welfare, elder services and housing, behavioral health, workforce development, support for Holocaust survivors and refugee resettlement.
Sandra formerly chaired the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce and is a Board member for the International Women’s Forum, Florida Suncoast Chapter. Her honors include “First Lady of African American History,” Businesswoman of the Year, the Dottie Berger Mackinnon Woman of Influence, Five Fabulous Females, and 100 Black Men of Tampa Bay joined the Women Presidents Organization to honor Sandra with their Women of Color Award, recognizing her significant achievements in business.
Dr. Braham earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and a doctorate in Educational Leadership. Sandra participated in Leadership Texas, Leadership America, and Harvard Business School’s Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management executive education program. Her memoir, “An Angel for Detroit,” was released in the fall of 2022.
